Idea Cellular Complaints & Reviews

I have been constantly forced by Idea to pay the bill for mobile no. [protected] which in under dispute for last 4 months due to non-reversal of CLIR (Caller Line Identification restriction) charges of Rs.300/- per month. Despite of their constant commitment and confirmation for the reversal of charges, they have not only failed to live up to their promises in last few months but as their last attempt to collect the outstanding balance on the most recent bill, they have sent me a threatening supreme court notice asking me to pay the bill as soon as possible. As prevention is better than cure, i have 13 different recorded conversations to sue idea for testing my patience.

I have been an Idea Cellular customer since March[protected]. My average bill per month has been Rs 1500 or more. I have always had a voice mail service with Idea. The voicemail service worked till 4-6 months ago.

Around 4-6 months ago my Idea voicemail stopped working. I have called to complain to Idea 4 times in the last 1 month alone. Every time they give me a different solution - but none of these solutions work.

Finally today the Idea representative admitted that Idea had discontinued my voicemail service but kept charging me Rs. 25/month. He added that I had to send them a SMS request if I wanted to them to stop charging me money for the service they had discontinued anyway! When I explained to him that Idea should not charge me if they have discontinued the service, he agreed but told me that he cannot do anything since he was bound by the company policy!

I cannot believe that Idea has started cheating customers by discontinuing services for which they continue to charge money!

Please help

Shrihari

1. On the 14th of December, my mother purchased an IDEA sim card from an IDEA outlet at 2nd Market, C.R. Park. She completed the required form, supplied signed copies of all necessary documents (passport and visa for India) and a passport photo. The originals documents were also shown to the retailer.

2. By the 25th of December the number was suspended due to "non-submission of documents" (according to both IDEA's computerized phone system and IDEA staff). However, these documents had already been submitted. I was instructed to resubmit the documents. We could receive incoming calls, but not make outgoing calls.

3. On the 26th of December, I resubmitted the form, copies of the documents and another passport photo to the IDEA office in Greater Kailash II. The originals were also inspected by the staff, and I made a copy of the form for my records. The phone number was then reactivated on the 29th of December and suspended again on the 3rd of January due to "non-submission of documents". The documents had already been submitted twice by that stage. Both incoming and outgoing calls were blocked, however we were still receiving advertising text messages from IDEA and their advertisers.

4. On the 5th of January I contacted the IDEA office in Greater Kailash II via the telephone to ask them to resolve my problem. They were not helpful at all, and disconnected my call. I then contacted the IDEA helpline and was assured by the supervisor on duty, (who said his name was Mr. Raman), that the number would be reactivated by 11am on the 6th of January.

5. On the 6th of January, after the number had not been activated, I contacted the IDEA helpline again at midday and was assured by the floor manager, who introduced himself as Kapil that the phone number wold be active by 7.14pm that day.

6. On the 6th of January after the number was still not activated as promised, I was told by the senior supervisor, Mr. Ravindar Kumar Singh, that the number would be activated on the 7th of January by 2.18pm.

7. On the 7th of January, after the number was still not activated by the appointed time, I contacted the IDEA helpline and spoke first to the floor manager Kaushlenere, and after no resolution was transferred to the manager Vivek, who told me that the Concern Department would contact me that evening, and that my complaint with them had been registered. By midnight that evening, I had neither received a call from the Concern Department, nor had the phone number been reactivated.

8. On the 8th of January, I contacted the IDEA helpline again and spoke to Vivek, who seemed genuinely surprised that the Concern Department did not contact me during the previous night. I asked for a refund of the amount paid which was about R1400 for the sim card and about R1000 in calling credit. By this stage I still had R600 credit left on that number. Vivek said he could not do that, but promised me that I would receive a call within five minutes. Shortly afterwards, I received a call from Mohd Faqib from Customer Complaints. He assured me that they were working on my case on a "high priority basis". I laughed, as I did not believe that several days could really be considered high priority. Once I finished the call Mohd promised that he would return the call within 30 minutes.

9. About three hours later I received a call from Mohd who told me that foreign nationals who apply for mobile phones need to be physically verified by the telecommunications provider. He told me that someone had visited the address we provided, and that there was no evidence o[censored]s there, however he could not provide me with a date or time as to when this occurred. I again asked for a refund, and was told that was not possible. Mohd wanted to arrange a visit from an IDEA staff member to physically verify my mother's identity. I told him that I did not want to bother with such things, as by that stage I had already spent several hours on the helpline, and did not want to waste any more time. He could not tell me why I was not informed by the IDEA office in Greater Kailash II on the 26th of December that physical verification was part of the process. I then asked Mohd to disconnect the number I wanted to dispense with IDEA as a telecommunications provider. Mohd responded that it wouldn't be necessary as the number was suspended. I asked whether I would incur any future problems should I wish to engage another telecommunications operator in the future, however he said that it should not be an issue. Given my experience so far, I am not convinced by his assurance.

10. As I submit this complaint on the 13th of January, I am still receiving advertising sms' from IDEAs advertisers, which leads me to believe that the number must still be active to a degree, however we can neither make nor receive calls.

11. So far, I have spent at least five hours on the phone with the IDEA helpline; on the 26th of December I spent about six hours traveling between my residence in C.R. Park, the local retailer at the 2nd Market C.R. Park, the office in Greater Kailash II, home and then back again to the IDEA office.
• Other than offering apologies, the staff at the IDEA helpline, have not been helpful.
• None of the verbal deadlines that the staff provided have been met for when the phone number will be reactivated.
• No explanations have been provided as to why the documents and forms have been lost twice.

12. I have also contacted the High Commission office, who made calls to the IDEA helpline on my behalf. This did not help resolve the problem. The staff at the High Commission office suggested I contact the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Comission, however when I contacted them, they informed me that they would not help me, and disconnected my call within about 60 seconds of speaking to an operator. They advised me to contact the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, but did not furnish me with a number.

12. I would suggest that if an foreign national is contemplating arranging any telecommunication service within India, not to use IDEA as a service provider. (Perhaps utilising an existing service from their home country telecommunications provider, might be a better idea). This whole experience has been a complete waste of time.

I hope that this information is o[censored]seful to foreign nationals in India.

Hello Sir,

Few months back I activated a message service which will sent messages on chiranjeevi. Now I would like to deactivate this service. I didnt a get an option to deactivate this service. This service charges me 30/- per month. I am getting messages named IA-55456. Please deactivate this service or let me know how can I deactivate this service.I forgot to tell you that I tried all possible ways to deactivate this service like messaging IA DEACT to 55456 and DEACTIA to 12345. Please let me know if there is any other way to deactivate this service

Thanks in advance.

S.Jagan Mohan Rao.
[protected]

Dear Sir,

My Idea no.is [protected] as booked by my sister name Dr. Sarika.
this is my postpaid connection, last week a Idea customer executive called me and told if i pay 500 Rs. then they transfer my postpaid no. to prepaid with 1 P/Second plan and one person who is feild executive in Idea was came to my house and filled up a form CAF(customer application form No. 1547351) dated 07-01-10. but day before yesterday my phone plan was not transfered as she said and today morning my phone was disconnect.

So, please give me a suggetion what can I do write now.

please revert my alternate no. [protected] as soon as possible.

I repeat the subject line !dea is not a better IDEA. I had a very bad experience with the customer relationship and customer care demonstrated by IDEA cellular services.

My Mobile No is [protected]. I have been using this post paid connection under CUG Plan provided for Geometric/3DPLM since last 2 years. I had requested for address change in Dec 2009. I had submitted the necessary proofs for address change through the marketing executive visiting the office premises.

Even after three weeks, there was no communication from IDEA on the address change process status.

Somewhere around 15th December I got a call from some person from IDEA asking me about the address change request and this call was for verification.
After this, nothing happened for next 1-2 weeks. I enquired with the person whom I had submitted the documents, he informed that he will ensure that it will be done within 2-3 days.

But to my surprise, the outgoing calls to my postpaid connection were blocked without informing me on 08-Jan-2010 . I called up 4999 last Friday to find what was the issue. The customer care representative informed me that it was a temporary problem at their side and my outgoing call facility will be resumed within 4 hrs. But it was a false promise.

Again I enquired with the person whom I had submitted the proofs, he informed me that he will send the request for activation.

On 9th Jan 2010, the problem was still unresolved. I called IDEA Customer CARE on 4999 and had to repeat the incidents again, and got the same reply that my services will be activated by 10 AM. (Another false promise !!!)

I waited till 12 pm, just to see that Outgoing call facility had still not resumed. I finally enquired 4999 and asked them the reason and your customer representative informed me that documents for address proof have not reached and has led to negative verification !!! (A new reason) and I should submit the documents for address change with the new request again.

I had no option, but to visit your idea care center at Shastri Nagar, Opp Yerawada police Station, Yerwada Pune and complete the address change request form again (as I am hoping that it will be done promptly this time).

I wish to inform you that the I am very unhappy and unsatisfied customer and would be sharing my experience to everyone soon through a proper forum.

I have activated caller tune on my Idea number and for the same I spend Rs.30 every month , but whenever any caller give me cal , he need to listen Idea's advertisement for that particular caller tune to get copy .

I don't want that advertisement at all with my number , as I am paying for song to listen and not for doing marketing of Idea's services .

kindly reply for my this complaint ASAP .

Thanks & Regards
Anagha

I am holding a IDEA postpaid connection with no [protected] from last 4-5 years. From two months i am facing problem while trying to connect to BSNL land line nos of some perticular regions. I can call to those nos using any other service provider onnection at the same time from the same place.

Logged too many complaints for the same with customer care but all in vain.

They don't want to listen any thing but keeps on repeating "problem is not from our end. it is from BSNL's end". They are not able to let me understand if airtel or vodaphone are able to connect then why don't IDEA.

There is some serious problem with their network. Looks like they are not paying enough to BSNL to get the rights to terminate their calls in thir network.

Please get this resolved. This is very frustrating.

Please also let me know if you have any contact person or no from TRAI to whome i can escalate this issue.

Himanshu Agarwal

hello My Self GOKUL OJHA.


i was using a sim of IDEA CELLULAR LTD.([protected])

i paid my all the dues and told them to close the number.

but they did not closed the number and the keep sending my bills without the use of that.



i sended lots of mails to them.


but very sorry to say that i did not received any proper response.



that all was done in month of september to nov

i paid again all the due through the cheque.

i have the proff of that also


now they sended me a LEGAL NOTICE mainsation the name of ADVOCATE MADHAVI ATHAVALE.




when i again called them on 11/01/10

they are telling that yes ser my our employee it was credited to someone else account.

in between they was making lots of call regarding deu of my bills


GOKUL OJHA
[protected]

Respectfully I beg to state that my wife, Mrs. Seema Kansabanik, purchased an Idea Net Setter for the laptop for exclusive purpose of internet connection. Since the very beginning, the following problems were faced:-

(a) The connection was abnormally slow.
(b) The company charges unreasonable amount without any justification.
(c) The grievance redressal people behave in a mechanical manner, refuse to hear the grievances of the customers and utter some standard sentences like parrots.
(d)The Company never sends any bill to our residence, we have been paying the amount on our own after going to Idea Showroom after checking the dues from the Showroom.
(e) The connection frequently gets disconnected, and with tremendous difficulty, the connection gets restored.
(f) However, the last due was paid by my wife on 5th December, 2009. Immediately after payment, the connection has been disconnected till date. The greivance officials of the company play various tactics like saying (i)the connection is temporarily stopped,(ii) signal is not working in our locality, (iii) we are required to take out the SIM and re-insert, and finally (iv) we are not paying the dues (when we are paying all the bills on our own even without receiving the bills).
(g) Till date the connection is not restored, despite more than 200 phone calls to various Idea officials.

The details of the connection are given below:-
(i) Name of the Customer: Mrs. Seema Kansabanik
(ii) Address: F-71, DG(S) Apartments, Plot No. 6, Sector-22, Dwarka, New Delhi-110075
(iii) Cellular No. [protected]
(iv) Account No. 1.10717871
(v) Alternative No. [protected]

Please take urgent necessary action against the Company as the Company is harassing the customers and is not providing service even after payment. (My wife could not send this mail to you from her e-mail id, as the internet connection is not working at our residence).

With profound regards,

Partha Kansabanik
Tele Nos. 23382924, 28051090, [protected]

dear sir i am a senior coustmer in idea companey , i am a first pre paid and next post paidcoustmer.i havepaid reguelerly bill but sodunlly i was sick lost 2 months. nov and december. i am paid this pending bill billo 12 th jan. please acttivetion my phone nos [protected] [protected].thanq sir.

a copy of letter what i send them i am posting here


hi

hi I just joined idea family few days back, my name is praful, and i got the sim "[protected]" from 1 of my friends shop, though i submitting the document

, the executive who was supposed to pick the document from there to head office din do his job and in result my network has been blocked, and when i spoke to him yesterday , the exutive who picks document from marathahalli is Mr.Venkatesh and Mr.Basava
" he ensured that he will login by yesterday eve and it ill be activated by today"
but that too din happen,when i called customer care it was told that u people haven got the document yet.

and now I submitted it at an idea store and 1 o[censored]r call center supervisor nirmala has ensured me that it will be rectified and reactivated by tomorrow morning,


BUT NOW I REALIZE UR SLOGAN "AN IDEA CAN CHANGE UR LIFE REALLY MEANS A LOT"

u people have successfully giving the worst o[censored]r service ever seen, now as i send this mail i will get a automated resposnse, saying thanks for ur response , we will sort out ur issue soon and u will forget doing what u said, and we poor people still waits for the IDEA that changes our life

i had taken it for ma official purpose as it was a good number, i got ma cards printed with this number, now say what i need to do, i can change to another network not a big deal at all, but what about the money spent for card and the contacts to which i updated this number..


now u suggest me, do i need to go to "consumer forum and waste ma time again" or u people still ensure the best of the service which u say or do hardly..

regards
Praful

I am having a post paid Cell from Idea no. [protected] and am using it for last 2 and 1/2 years. The DND is activated on my mobile . For the last 10-15 days I am getting Traffic Alerts on my mobile which I have protested on idea helpline a number of times.My complaints are registered but no resolution.My complaint No. 93887560 was reported to have been processed on 05/01/2010 but still the SMS continue. Many Unwanted SMS are sent to me by idea cellular.

Inspite of lodging complaint many times and getting confirmation that the complaint is resolved I am still getting unwanted SMS. It shown lack of any responsibility towards the consumer who is paying the co, nearly 1500/- p.m.

I claim Rs.2.00 lakh from the company against the mental harrassment caused to me through these SMS. It is really very disturbing that I am forced these SMS without my accepting them. The company should pay be the damages for continuous harrassment.

Dear Sir,


Pls, Close my Idea Sim, Because I have Lost my Mobile.
So, Pls, close my sim otherwise missuse my sim I have not responsible for this. My Detail's are given bellow.

Name - Pandya Bhavesh B.
Mobile No - [protected]

i have a pre paid connection from the idea . i got one pack of 25 rs for sms pack they always deduct amount as pr norms , this time i got one more pack after which i wn't be charged with daily rent . at the same time i made requests to the company that i want to change my sms pack but they did not bothered at all i got 330 rs prepaid coupen on 30th of dec.2009 but company without informing me started deducting one rs pr sms , then immediately i inquired about the same n i was told that still that rs.25 sms scheme is going on on my phone. to my utter disappointment again one ruppee per sms is deducted i am trying to register my complaint but all is in vain. please help

Hi Iam Nitin Ostwal From Bangalore..my number is [protected]…In nov i had activated GPRS 49 pack.. i used it for whole month...& month endi cancelled the service... but in dec 2009 it got activated automatically... i called up Idea customer care many times to sort this issue but they couldnt help me so i decided to use the service for dec 09 as i was not sure if i would get the refubd if i cancel service in dec 09...but not even a single minute i was able to use GPRS in dec due to idea's error... i wanted the refund so i called up idea again & they inform to cancel service & call back to requset for refund for the month.. i did the same thing & cancelled GPRS & called back to request refund.. the request was taken & they informed me tht within 28th dec someone from will call me back about refund... till now haven't got a call, so i called back them & they told to send a mail to them again or walk up to idea showroom...Mean while on 1st jan 2010 the GPRS got activated again automatically & i was charged 49.00 again,so i immediately called them to inform the same & they cancelled the service... next day again the GPRS got activated & i was again charged 49.00... so i want to make a complaint against this as iam not happy with this service from IDEA Mobile...Please help me with this...

On 9th oct. 2009 I tried to recharge an amount of Rs. 501/ through internet banking(SBI) but the recharge was not successful and the amount was credited to the account no.[protected] as idea payments from my SBI a/c no. [protected]. An sms was recieved to my mobile that as recharge was unsuccesful the amount will be credited to my bank a/c in 8 working days but till it is not done. I have called the idea customer care a number of times and every time called they said that my money would be refund in next 48 hrs but still I am not getting my money. Plz help for getting back my money. Thank you. my idea mob. no. is [protected], durg Chhattishgarh.

Respected Sir,

Respectfully I beg to state that we had purchased a SIM Card of Idea on 24.12.2009 from local retailer from Purulia District. But last 9 days suddenly it barred. So we had to contact with the retailer. They assured me to give connection as soon as possible from last 7 days. But till date I did not get any kind of response from their side.
I am submitted all legal documents for SIM connection to him .Actually they are making me fool day by day.I am very much disappointed for that.
I am submitting details Below for your kind perusal :

1. SIM Card : Idea
2. SIM Card No.[protected]
3. Mobile No. : [protected]
4. Customer's Name and Address : Kaushik Bhattacharjee, 26, Acharya Prafulla Chandra Avenue, Kolkata-30
5. Dated : 24.12.2009

We request you to take necessary steps as the earliest.
Co-operation from your side will highly be expected.

Thanking you,
Yours faithfully,

Kaushik Bhattacharjee
Purulia

RESPECTED SIR,
IDEA POSTPAID HAD COMMITTED A WRONG POSTPAID PLAN, THE DETAILS OF THE SAME IS ATTACHED IN THE DOCUMENT (MS-WORD).
PROOF COPY IS ATTACHED ALSO.
THE SAME PLAN WAS COMMITED TO 4 OTHER MEMBERS ALSO, ALL ARE READY TO GIVE ORAL STATEMENTS ALSO:
1. NITIN GUPTA, PA NISCAIR, DELHI
2. DHEERAJ, PA NISCAIR, DELHI
3. VED PRAKASH, DMRC, DELHI
4. DEEPAK, PA, NISCAIR, DELHI
5. (MYSELF), VIKASH AGRAWAL











To Date: 04.01.2010
The Concerned Authority,
Indian Consumer Complaint Forum,
New Delhi
Subject: Regarding to fraud plans about Idea Post-paid Connections
Respected Sir,
I would like to make this information in your kind attention, once more, two application i sent you earlier also stating that I have paid Rs. 500 to an executive (Named as Siddhartha) by IDEA post-paid connection channel partner from ‘Majestic Infotech-Paschim Vihar, New Delhi’ on 11.11.2009, by cash and i have the cash-receipt of the same.
The person was representative from Idea and told me the wrong plan of 150/= per month rental, claiming free nation-wide roaming incoming and flat 50 p. Outgoing call rates and 50 p. sms rates, even in roaming. He told me to give first 150 local/national calls absolutely free and first 150 local/national sms also free. They also told me some other reduced call rates, while in home network, like 30p. Local and 50p. STD, He also told that there is nothing very special in this offer, as Reliance and other networks are giving very good plans.
However, while my connection was not activated even in 1 week, I went to ‘My Idea’ show-room, Kapil, an officer, there checked and confirmed my plan online and told that the same plan did not existed in any one of the postpaid rental schems.from Customer Care (IDEA), he forwarded my complaint to the Idea grievance cell and assured me some quick solution as told me that the same plan was not available to any customer in any postpaid plan.
Sir, I am a Research-Scholar in ‘NPL-New Delhi’, and I am really very much disgusted by the various calls, I have done to them, initially a person named as ‘SHAMMI’ in Idea nodal office assured me that he will definitely solve the problem, but nothing happened, they done nothing, I have spent at least 1500/= in calling them at various numbers of their customer-care and various other possible numbers. 2500/= in travelling here and there. As a result i have spent a total of Rs. 4500/= and still I have got neither my refund, nor my no. activated nor any other assistance.
ON MAKING THIS COMPLAINT, E-MAIL HAS RECIEVED FROM IDEA AFTER 1.5 MONTH, STILL THEY ARE DEMANDING SOMETIMES PROOF OF CASH-RECIEPT,WHEN I E-MAILED THE SOFT COPY OF RECIEPT, THEY STARTEDTO DEMAND THE SIM NUMBER, AND IN THIS WAY THEY ARE JUST DELAYING THE MATTER AND MAKING VARIOUS PRETENDS EVERY NOW AND THEN.
I AM NOT AT ALL SATISFIED WITH THE WAY, THEY ARE TAKING THIS COMPLAINT VERY LIGHTLY, RESULTING THAT THE COMPLAINT IS NOT SOLVED STILL NOW.
While calling to IDEA, they misbehaved to me and not only to me but 4 other students from NPL and NISCAIR are also their victims.
Sir, we are exploited continuously by these idea members, while telling them to their complaint to TRAI, they said whatever you want, you can do, you did not bought the plan from us and we are therefore not responsible. Idea is saying that we are not liable for this fraud but this sales agency is authorized by IDEA itself then where i go and what should i do?????
Please sir do something for us at the earliest.
Sir it is the time to make a lesson to IDEA by the consumer forum.
Thanks a lot.
Yours’ Sincerely
Vikash Agrawal
Research Fellow
NPL, 3/1, JRF HOSTEL,
NPL COLONY,
NEW RAJINDER NAGAR,
NEW DELHI-110012
Ph.-[protected].

Sir,
On 27 Dec 2009, i top up my prepaid cellular phone (ph No [protected]) for 202 (instead of 201) which will provide me 201 as full talk time, but by the mistake of dealer it happen for 202. For 202 idea provided me a talk time of 83 rupees which is not understood. On enquiring the same the call center informed me that it is the mistake of dealer not our. But my complaint is that if there is no talk time of 202 why they accepted the amount, either they should have said wrong top up. Instead of that they gave me talk time for 83 which is not understood.



On 29 Dec 2009, i top upped for 201 for full talk time, 48 Rs for sms pack and 32 rupees for one paise for one year. All has been accepted from idea and i also got message of sucessful recharge. Now for the pack of 48 Rs they not providing me the sms pack. Again enquiry from call center they said that you did 32 rs top up after 48 Rs so the previous all top up is vanished. My complaint is how can 48 rs just top uped eight minutes before vanished if there was provision like that it should have been said to the consumer while top up. The idea service is giving a poor consumer satisfaction and hiding many policies which leading money loss to its customers. I request my loss money may please be remitted to me.